NEW DELHI, June 6:
Rahul Gandhi has a blueprint for revitalising Congress and “change” will be seen in the next two months, senior party leader Jyotiraditya Scindia said as he defended the nearly two-month-long break from politics taken by the party’s Vice President.
“I understand he (Gandhi) has a blueprint in his mind and heart. You shall see in the next 1-2 months, change will definitely come,” said Scindia.
He was responding to a question on the leave taken by Gandhi in connection with which Congress leaders had claimed he would return with a ‘blueprint’ for the party.
Turning to the controversial land acquisition Bill of the BJP government, Scindia insisted that the consent of farmers before acquiring their land was a must and the deletion of this clause in the proposed legislation was a grave injustice to farmers.
“Should we acquire the land of farmers without their consent? What is the problem in taking their consent? When Congress was in power, BJP leaders like Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj had vociferously demanded that there should be no land acquisition without the consent of farmers.
“What has happened in the last one year that they have changed their stand,” Scindia told Rajat Sharma in the ‘Aap ki Adalat’ programme to be aired tonight.
When reminded that Congress’s allegation that BJP is going to hand over farmers’ land to industrialists does not hold water as the party had itself handed over 92,000 acres of land to industrialists in different states, which has affected nearly 5 lakh people, the Congress leader said his party brought the land acquisition Bill to make sure that no such acquisition occurs in the future.
“Land was acquired in states ruled by all the parties, including Congress. We wanted to introduce a uniform national policy on land acquisition and that is why we brought that legislation. But this government tore it apart and threw it in the dustbin,” Scindia said.
He also came out strongly in support of Congress chief Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra over the issue of controversial land deals in Haryana and Rajasthan, saying the latter had not done anything illegal.
Scindia also rejected Modi government’s claims of “acche din”, saying prices of food items have gone up and that, while international crude oil prices have come down, there is hardly any drop in India. (PTI)
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